As I sat in the barber shop yesterday, there was talk of one particular barber who had gotten married over the weekend. He had been with his girlfriend for nearly 4 years, and they decided to finally tie the knot, and according to the other barbers there, it was quite a moving experience. But then the conversation quickly shifted to another barber(Tony) who attended the wedding with his girlfriend of 9 years. This couple had never been particularly moved to get married, but once she went to this wedding, all of a sudden she was singing quite a different tune. Now, she not only wanted to get married, but she was using her attendance at THIS wedding to gain ideas. As you can imagine, Tony was not only thrown for a loop, but he was a bit scared. So, when his girl asked him when he could they could get married, he responded that he was not ready because he was in "thought training". As he told this story, the rest of the barbers wanted to know what the hell thought training was. And Tony eloquently explained to us, that he told his girlfriend, that he could not marry her until he mentally prepared his mind for marriage...thus the term thought training. Now at this point, he made it seem like that explanation went over like a charm, and I sincerely doubt that. But I liked the expression "thought training", so I will now try to work it into my daily lexicon. I'm scheduled to attend a wedding this year with my ladyfriend, so that should be interesting..

So today is my mother's 55th birthday (yeah I said it), and tomorrow is her party. I need to buy a birthday card for the occasion, and it got me to thinking, what is the correct amount of time to keep a card once it has been given to you. Usually when I receive a card I do the following:
1)Rip open the envelope
2)Ignore the printed words Hallmark has written
3)Ignore the Love _____ that whoever gave me the card has written
4)Shake the card like Beyonce shakes her ass in this video to see if the card has money, a gift card or racy pictures
5)Go back and read the words of both Hallmark and the card giver
6)Give a fake ass thank you and hug
7)Plot my disposal of the card

But at some point the guilt kicks in, and I never throw the card away. I just accumulate cards for no good reason. With the exception of the last birthday card my grandmother gave me before she died, I really have the need to save them. I've never sat around my house thinking, you know today is a read-my-old-cards kind of day. That simply doesn't happen. Plus, most people are so lazy, they don't even bother writing their own message, which is just bad business. Any fool can buy a card, and sign it..but this ain't a yearbook, this is a card for someone you allegedly care about. So why not write a message from the heart, and gain the respect and TRUE admiration from the card recipient. I know for a fact that on a couple occasions me writing my own card, was a contributing factor to me getting some sweet lovin'. Try it kids!

By the way, I have on rum and cake today, and I've gotten two compliments and it is only 7:57 am. Go get you some, and I'm not saying that just because I know the owner. I say it because it is good stuff.

Oh, and I miss Tony Toni Tone. Right before I went to sleep this video came on, and I got all nostalgic thinking back to my college days when they were at their peak. Bands like that don't really stay together for too long, because someone ends up pursuing a solo career, and then never really are the same after that. Mint Condition is the exception to that rule, but the 3 Tonys had them beat by a bit in my book. I think I'll go out and buy all of their cds now.

I've been sending my brother two songs at a time all week. I send him a song, and then I send him the original song that was sampled, and its actually pretty cool. So i'll do end the blog by doing the same thing here:

Q-Tip - Let's Ride

Joe Pass - Giant Steps